Your Help Allows The Vincentian Fathers in Chad to Better Serve GodFriday, December 20, 2013

Success Story

Until recently, the three priests working in the Diocese of Moundou had to share two mopeds between them to visit the 41 scattered villages that make up their parish. But thanks to you, now they have an off-road vehicle. They offer a big “thank you” to you.

The Republic of Chad in central sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world, with roughly 80% of its people living below the poverty level.

Muslims account for almost 58% of the population and are the largest single religious group in the country. Christians make up roughly a quarter of the population, while Catholics account for only 7.9%. Some 16% of the people in Chad still belong to traditional African religions.

The Catholic Church in Chad is relatively young. While the first missionary approaches by Franciscan Capuchins took place as early as the 17th century, it was only in 1929 that the first permanent mission station was established, close to the present-day town of Moundou.

The Diocese of Moundou, in the far south of the Republic, was established in 1959, and, according to the Pontifical Yearbook, some 358,000 of the 873,000 inhabitants of the diocese are Catholics.

The Vincentian Fathers, also known as Lazarists, have only been in charge since 2011. Given the rough, untarred roads, visiting with parishioners was often a dangerous business. Most of the villages are between 6 and 20 miles away, while some of the villages are quite simply inaccessible by moped in the rainy season, leaving the faithful without pastoral care for several months of the year.

Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, ACN was able to help the Lazarist Fathers with a contribution of $16,000 so they could buy a suitable off-road vehicle. Now they can reach the faithful in the outlying villages, despite the bad roads and adverse weather conditions, and bring them the life-giving Sacraments of the Church. At the same time, they can also use the vehicle for other life-saving missions, such as ferrying the sick to hospital and transporting vital supplies.

The Vincentian Fathers and the Catholic faithful want to say thank you to all our benefactors for their new vehicle, which allows them to better serve God and neighbor!